Actuating mechanism for opening vault doors



July 28, 1925.

R. sHEETz ACIIUATING MECHANISM FOR OPENING VAULT DOORS Filed April jmmrFak/Zijn?.

@Mi MMM g5 Patented July 28, 1925.

Unirse sra'llsv isaiasi i ROBERT L. SHEEIZ, OIE' SIOUX CITY, IOWA.

, ACTUAIING IlIECHLNISB- F012- @PENNG-VAULT'DOORS.

Application filed April 23, 1924. Serial No. 798,418.

T0 all ila/110m may concern.'

Ee it known that I, Bonner L. SHEETZ, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Sioux City, in the county oflloodbury and State oflowa, have invented certain new and useful lmprovements in ActuatingMechanism for Opening Vault loors, of which the following` is aspecification.

My invention relates to vault doors, particularly of the type employingthe pressure-bar system for forcing the door into place in the doorcasing, and has for its oblject to provide means of simple, novel andinexpensive construction, whereby the pressure-bar actuatingmechanismmay be operated fromwithin the vault.

l 1t is my purpose to provide means whereby a banker or bank employee,i. Yho has become locked within a vault by a bank robber', may extricatehimself from the vault.

further object of my inventii'in is to provide suoh means in the form ofan 'attachment which may be readily secured to the inside of a vaultdoor and connected with the pressure-bar actuating-mechanism with.` thefewest changes in the latter structure.

Another object is to provide such an attachment which may be adapted tovarious makes of vault doors wherein the arrange" nient of thepressure-bar actuating-mechanism with Vrelation to the combination lockmay be different.

ore specifically, it is my purpose to provii` e an attachment which maybe used either where the con'ibination lock registers with thepressure-bar hand-wheel shaft, and thus prevents such shaft being`extended through the vault door, or where it doesnot, the pa rts being'such that those used in the latter case may be used also in the formerwith the addition of several other parts.

Wvith these and other objects in view, myV

invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination ofthe various parts of my device, whereby the objects contemplated areattained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims,and illustrated in the accompanying' drawings, in which: c

Fig. 1 is an elevation of a vault door, together with its casing,illustrating the presture-bar system.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a portion of the same with my inventionattached, taken on the line 2-.2 of Figl.

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the attachment as used where thecombination lock of the vault door covers the end of the pressure-barhand-wheel shaft.

Before proceeding to describe in detail my invention, I will attempt toset forth the problem which it is intended to remedy.

In most banks the door to the safety deposit vault is of such size andweight that it would be impossible to swing` it closed into the casingwithout the aid of mechanical devices of some kind. The doors are madeto fit very closely within their oasings in order that the possibilityof introducing eX plosive materials or tools may be minimized; lt hastherefore been found necessary to provide mechanical means for forcingthe door closed, and this means I have shown in Fig. 1 of the drawingsherewith.

The vault door, 10., is hinged at 11 to the swinging yoke, 12, which inturn is hinged at 13 to the casing, 14, or to the wall of thebuildingwherein the vault is built. On the door are suitably mounted inbearings the shaft, 15, on the ends of which are cams which coact withthe bearing` members, 16, and which, when rotated therein, will forcethe door, 10, inwardly into vthe casing. In order to rotate theshafts,15, the vertical shaft, 16a, y is provided which drives theshafts, 15, through the medium of the gears, 17. 1n order to drive theshaft, 16, the hand# wheel shaft, 18, is provided, suitably journaled inthe casing, 19, iixed'to the vault door, and having thereon the worm,20, in mesh with the worm-wheel, 21, onthe shaft, 16. The shaft, 18,ordinarily extendsto'a point where it is about flush with the outerAsurface of the vault door, 10, but does not extend into the door.

Y From the foregoing,l description it will be Y seen that a bank robbermay force a person to enter the vault, and by actuatingv thepressure-bar system effectivelylock ythe door in place so that it isimpossible for the person within to effect anescape.

Duringrecent years daylight .robberies have become much morefrequentthan in former times. This may be due to the fact that it iseasier to escape undetected after having gotten away from the bankitself in the daytime, when the streets are swarming with people, thanit is at night. 1t is, however, a fact that such robberies have becomemuch more frequent than f ormerly.` In order to complete such arobbery,'it is necessary that the employees of the bank be taken CTIcare ofin some way so. they will not give the alarm when t-he robbersflee. "The average criminal hesitates to iniiict any unnecessary injuryupon those with whom he comes into contact, and the most convenient ande'Hective method ot eliminating trouble from the employees is to lockthem up within the vault.

Vihere the pressure-barv system is not in use it is possible for theprisoners to escape by removing the combination lock, which is screwedto the back of the vault door by means of screws which are removable-from.

within, and then rotating the combination disks toV position where thelocking bolt may be withdrawn, and the locking bars retractedin order tounlock the door. Howev r, itt. the pressure-bar system is installedonthe door, it will prevent the door being' pened. j

.l have been engaged for some time as a salesman ot protective devicesfor vault doo-rs, and from my experience have found that on the averagesil-r people have been locked up at a time within a vault where suoli arobbery hasV occurred. The average vault does not contain much over twothousand cubic feet of air, and it is known that the average personconsumes about three hundred cubic 'feet ot air perhour. rllhus it willbe seen from this that in such a vault the oxygenV would be aboutexhausted at the end ot an hour where. six people havebeen imprisonedtherein.

The arrangements ot the various parts ot the vault doors ditter invarious makes. In some cases the shaft, 1S, Ais remove-d considerablyfrom the combination lock, 22, and in other cases it is directlyopposite the combination lock on the other. side of the door.

Itis my purpose to provide a simple attachment which may be used ineither case andwhich may be` connected to the shaft, 1S, in order thatthe shaft, 18, may be rotated from the inside ot the door. My inventionincludes a shank, n3, on the `end ot which is a socket, 2li, having asquare opening therein ot sui'iicient size that it willA receive theordinary shaft, 1S, which is squaredtor the purpose. In order toaccomplish this, the casing, 19, is loosened 'and moved outwardly awayfrom the vault door, the slot, 19, allowing such movement. The shank, 3,is rotatably mounted in a bracket, 25, and secured therein by means oi'a collar, 26. rEhe socket, 2d, forms a shoulder, which together' withthe collar, 26, secures the shank, 23, against longitudinal movementrelative'to the bracket, 25. ln many cases the collar, 2G, may bedispensed with.

@n the end ot the shank, 23, is a handwheel, 27. In the ordinaryinstallation an opening, 28, is cut in the door, 10, so as toregisterwith the shaft, `18. The socket, 24,

`bracket itor supporting is then inserted through the opening, 28, andattached to the end ot the shaft, 18, by means of a hollow headed setscrew, 29, or taper and'28b, are cut in the door from opposite sides, asshown, which overlap. Thevdepression, 28a receives the gear, 30, and thedepression, 2Sb receives the gear, 31. lt will be seen that the gearsare thus held against longitudinal movement. At the same "time, the dooris not cut entirely through at one spot, and protection against hre isthus increased. 1

It will be seen that in this case, as in the other case, the attachingis `done entirely on the inside `without disturbing the mechanism on theoutside ot the door. The same parts are used in each case with theaddition ot the spur gears where the combination lock, 22, has to beevaded.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement ot theparts of my invention without departing trom the real spirit andpurposeot my invention, and it is my intentionto cover by my claims, anymodied forms of structure or use ot mechanical equivalents, which may bereasonably included within their scope.

' I claim as my invention: i

1.l In a device of the class described, inY

combination with a vault door having a horizontal pressure-baractuating-shaft with its end terminating at the outside surtt-ace of thedoor, a shank, a socket onthe shank adapted to be extended through asuitable opening in the door and to receive, the end or' thepressure-bar actuating-shaft, and a the shank on the interior of thevault door.

2. In combination with `a vvault door hav ing a pressure bar actuatingsha'tt with its end terminating at the outer surface lot the` door, apermanentattachn'ient for actuadiH ing the said shaft comprising abracket, a

shank journaled therein, va socket on the shank having'- a` shoulderengaging Vsaid bracket, a collar on the shankengaging the other side otsaid bracket soV as to maintain the shank in tired longitudinal positionrelaf tive to the bracket, a handle on; the shank., the socket beingAextended,through an opening in the door and receiving the end ot thepressure bar actuating shaft.

Signed at Sioux City, in the. county ot` Woodbury and Stateot Iowa, this2nd day of April, 1924.

I ROBERT L. SHEETZ.

